Senate Tax Plan Will Leave Small Businesses Behind

Statement from Small Business Majority Founder & CEO John Arensmeyer on why the tax legislation passed by the U.S. Senate overlooks the needs of small businesses

We’re extremely disappointed by the U.S. Senate’s decision to pass a tax bill that does virtually nothing to help the overwhelming majority of America’s small businesses. Under this plan, the vast majority of the pass-through tax cuts will go to the wealthiest 2.6 percent of enterprises, not to Main Street small businesses. Meanwhile, small employers will be saddled with a $1.5 trillion hit to the deficit and an uneven playing field that continues to favor large corporations.

As for reducing the corporate rate to 20 percent, very few small businesses would benefit because 95 percent of them don’t pay the corporate rate. Entrepreneurs oppose lowering that rate without getting rid of corporate tax loopholes that overwhelmingly favor large multinational corporations, such as the loophole that allows a select few large entities to defer paying taxes on foreign profits and costs the U.S. Treasury $1 trillion over 10 years. In fact, Small Business Majority’s recent scientific opinion polling found 75 percent of small business owners believe large corporations should not be able to choose to declare some or all of their income in a foreign country in order to lower their taxes. What’s more, 85 percent of entrepreneurs feel the tax code unfairly benefits large corporations over small businesses, and that corporations and wealthy Americans should be required to pay their fair share of taxes.

While the 1986 bipartisan tax overhaul was the result of years of work and months of hearings, the 2017 version was cobbled together in a matter of weeks. Unfortunately, the final result reflects that haphazard and partisan process. Our current leaders may hope to deliver a tax cut as a “Christmas gift” to Americans, but as far as small businesses are concerned this so-called tax reform measure is one big lump of coal. If lawmakers want to help the small businesses that need tax reform most, they must radically overhaul their legislation during conference with the House of Representatives.

About Small Business MajoritySmall Business Majority was founded and is run by small business owners to ensure America’s entrepreneurs are a key part of a thriving and inclusive economy. We actively engage our network of more than 55,000 small business owners in support of public policy solutions and deliver information and resources to entrepreneurs that promote small business growth. Our extensive scientific polling, focus groups and economic research help us educate and inform policymakers, the media and other stakeholders about key issues impacting small businesses and freelancers. Learn more about us on our website and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.